Sawhorse



July 24, 1962 E. L. DINTELMANN SAWHORSE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 51, 1961 Jib w W Edw/h L. D/hIe/mcmn INVENTOR.

9 BY Amanda...

July 24, 1962 E. L. DINTELMANN 3,045,777

SAWHORSE Filed Jan. 31, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 E dw/h L, 0/hfe/mann INVENTOR.

' BY WWW Ilnited States Patent Gfiice 8,845,777 Patented July 24, I852 3,045,7 7 7 SAWHORSE Filed Jan. 31, 1961, Ser. No. 86,157 7 Claims. (Cl. 182-153) This invention relates to a support device, and particularly to a carpenters truss or horse.

Briefly, the invention comprises a carpenters sawhorse having four legs. The legs are arranged in pairs, the legs of each pair diverging downwardly and outwardly from each other, and each leg of the pair being connected at its upper end to a saddle member Usl1aped in cross-section. Each saddle member is pivotally connected to the other saddle member by a horizontally extending rod which extends through bores in plates connected to the bottoms of the saddle members. The saddle members are also connected by and loosely support a horizontally extending wooden beam which forms the top of the horse. Due to the pivoted connection between the rod and the saddle members and the looseness between the wooden beam and the saddle member, each pair of legs may rotate about a horizontal axis relative to the other pair of legs. This permits the legs to adjust to an uneven floor or supporting surface.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a carpenters sawhorse or support having a plurality of legs relatively movable to one another whereby the legs may firmly and securely contact an irregular floor or supporting surface for rigidly supporting the upper portions of the horse.

It is another object of this invention to provide a sawhorse or truss having legs which will automatically adjust themselves to an uneven surface for stabilizing the upper portion of the horse.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sawhorse having folding legs composed of sections which may be manually disassembled without requiring any special tools.

Another object of the invention is to provide a carpenters horse which may be packed in very small cartons after disassembly for easy shipment, storage, merchandising, etc.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a carpenters horse that is simple in construction, durable in use, easy to maintain and reliable in operation.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the novel sawhorse;

FIGURE 2 is an elevational view taken on line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially on the plane of line 33 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is an exploded view of a portion of one leg assembly;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective View showing one leg assembly in a folded condition; and

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of the upper portion of a leg assembly.

As shown in FIGURE 1, my sawhorse comprises a pair of leg assemblies Iii and 12 connected together by a rod or pipe 14 and a beam 16. As shown in FIGURE 3, the beam 16 is rectangular in cross-section and composed of wood. Each of the leg assemblies are identical to one another, therefore the component parts of only one will be described.

The leg assembly 10, for example, comprises two identical legs 18 and 20, each generally V-shaped in elevation as shown in FIGURE 2. Each leg comprises two parallel upper portions 22 and 24, two lower converging portions 26, 28 and a connecting portion 30 connecting the lower ends of the portions 26, 28. As shown in FIGURE 2, not only are the portions 26 and 28 converging, but they also are angled slightly with the upper portions 24 and 22. This causes the legs to be more rigid, since by having them sloping in relation to the horizontal extending upper portions 14 and 16 of the horse, they in effect serve as diagonal braces or truss members.

Shown more clearly in FIGURES 5 and 6, the upper portion of each leg 18 and 20 is connected to a saddle member 32 which is U-shaped in cross-section. As shown more clearly in FIGURE 3, the legs 34 and 36 of the saddle member converge slightly in an upward direction and are connected at their l0 W6I edges by a bight portion 38.

The ends of the bight 38 are each connected to the upper portion of two identical trapezoid plates 40 or 42. The sides of each trapezoid have flanges 44 and 46 extending normal to the surfaces of the trapezoid. As shown in FIGURE 6, the trapezoid on each saddle member has pairs of flanges 44 and 46 lying in the same plane which are connected by a plate 48.

, 2 have circular bores therein which receive rivets 51 and 52 extending through the trapezoid plates and 42 aligned. and pivotally receive the rod or pipe 14. The

for pivotally connecting the legs thereto.

Each trapezoid plate also has a central circular bore. 50. All of the bores 58 in the trapezoid plate are fixedly upper portion of the legs 34 and 36 of the saddle members resiliently grip the beam 16 at the points '52 and 54. Due to the pivotal connection between the rod 14 and the leg assembly, and due to the clearance at '56 and 58 between the legs 34 and 36 of the saddle members and the rectangular beam 16, the leg assemblies may pivot a considerable degree about the axis of rod 14 in relation to each other. The degree of pivoting between the leg assemblies is limited only by the clearance at 56 and 58 and the degree of resiliency of the beam 16. Due

to the free rotation permitted between the leg assemblies 10 and 12 about the rod 14, it can be seen that the bottom 30 of each leg will automatically rotate about the rod 14 until it contacts the floor or supporting surface upon which the horse is placed.

Portions 26 of each leg are normally held spaced from one another by a folding brace 60. Each brace 60 comprises two links 62 and 64 pivotally connected together at their adjacent ends by a rivet 66. As shown in 'FIG URE 4, the rivet 66 is received in bores 68 and 70 in the ends of the links. The link 64 has an arcuate stop 72 projecting outwardly from its upper edge. The link 62 has an arcuate recess 74 for receiving the curved lower portion of the stop 72. The outer free ends of each link are connected to the leg portions 26 by rivets 76 and 78.

Normally, as shown in FIGURE 3, the links 62 and 64 are in alignment with one another and rigidly connect the legs 18 and 20. However, when it is desired to disassemble the horse, it is only necessary to lift the beam 16 upwardly and remove it from the saddle members, and then slide the leg assemblies 10 and 12 and oif of the ends of the rod 14. As shown in FIGURE 5, each leg assembly may be easily folded into a flat position merely by lifting upwardly the ends of the links 62 and 64 in the vicinity of the rivet 66. This causes the 3 legs to pivot together about the rivets 51 and 52, and further causes the links 62 and 64 to assume the shape as shown in FIGURE 5.

After the horse has been disassembled and the legs folded as explained above and as shown in FIGURE 5, all of the subassemblies of the horse may then be easily placed in a flat relatively small carton for storage, shipment, merchandising, etc.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is a follows:

1. A support comprising spaced leg assemblies, each assembly comprising a plurality of upwardly extending legs, generally horizontally extending rod means connecting said leg assemblies, said leg assemblies being rotatable about said means, support means above and parallel to said horizontally extending means extending between said assemblies and movably connected thereto whereby the weight of said support will automatically force the lower ends of said legs into contact with a supporting surface below said support, each of said assemblies including a pair of legs pivotally connected at their upper ends to a saddle member which contains said support and has aperture means therein rotatably receiving one end of said rod means.

2. A support comprising spaced leg assemblies, each assembly comprising a plurality of upwardly extending legs, generally horizontally extending means connecting said leg assemblies, said leg assemblies being rotatable about said means, support means above said horizontally extending means extending between said assemblies and movable relative thereto whereby the weight of said support will automatically force the lower ends of said legs into contact with a supporting surface below said support, each of said assemblies including a pair of legs pivotally connected at their upper ends to a saddle member which contains said support, said saddle member being U-shaped in cross section with the sides thereof converging upwardly, said support means being rectangular in cross section and gripped only by the free ends of said sides whereby the saddle member may move relative to the support means.

3. A support comprising spaced leg assemblies, each assembly comprising a plurality of upwardly extending legs, generally horizontally extending means connecting said leg assemblies for relative rotation, said leg assemblies being rotatable about said means, support means above said horizontally extending means extending between said assemblies and movable relative thereto whereby the weight of said support will automatically force the lower ends of said legs into contact with a supporting surface below said support, each of said assemblies including a pair of legs pivotally connected at their upper ends to a saddle member which contains said support, said saddle member being U-shaped in cross section with the sides thereof converging upwardly, said support being rectangular in cross section and gripped only y the free upper ends of said sides whereby the saddle member may move a limited amount relative to the support means, said horizontally extending means comprising a rod circular in cross section and said support means being rectangular in cross-section.

4. A support comprising spaced leg assemblies, each assembly comprising a plurality of upwardly extending legs, generally horizontally extending rod means connecting said leg assemblies for limited relative rotation about said rod, said leg assemblies being rotatable about said means, wooden support means above and parallel to said horizontally extending means extending between said assemblies and movably connected thereto whereby the weight of said support will automatically force the lower ends of said legs into contact with a supporting surface below said support, each of said assemblies including a pair of legs pivotally connected at their upper ends to a saddle member which contains said support, said saddle member being U-shaped in cross section with the sides thereof converging upwardly, said support being rectangular in cross section and gripped only by the free upper ends of said sides whereby the saddle member may move a limited amount relative to the support, said horizontally extending means comprising a rod circular in cross section, and rotatably extending through bores in trapezoid plates connected between said saddle and said legs.

5. The device defined in claim 4 wherein each of Said legs is generally V-shaped and the legs on each side of support norm-ally lie substantially in the same plane.

6. The device defined in claim 5 wherein the legs on each side diverge downwardly from each other so as to make the support more rigid.

7. A device as defined in claim 6 wherein the sides of said trapezoid plates terminate in flanges which overlap and limit separation of the legs in each leg assembly.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 466,010 Parmelee Dec. 29, 1891 1,458,738 Teeken June 12, 1923 2,410,330 Ashenfelter Oct. 29, 1946 2,794,688 Scott June 4, 1957 

